Author Topic: Grammar that makes you cringe  (Read 835163 times)

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1200 on: 19 December, 2010, 11:08:45 am »
It didn't make me cringe but did make me smile when I read in a magazine that I should "apply a volume-enhancing moose to roots".
Bizarre, I always thought the moose ate the roots to increase its volume.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1201 on: 19 December, 2010, 12:45:16 pm »
'Slippy'.   :sick: That is all.

Absolutely. Damned silly non-word.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1202 on: 19 December, 2010, 02:19:04 pm »
'Slippy'.   :sick: That is all.

Absolutely. Damned silly non-word.

Although you could argue: Slippery: like a slipper; Slippy: prone to slippage.

a lower gear

  • Carmarthenshire - "Not ALWAYS raining!"
Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1203 on: 19 December, 2010, 04:57:36 pm »
Mrs. lower gear hails from the upper midwest of the USA where 'bring' and 'take' are used interchangeably even in well-educated households; thus our two smaller gears are enjoined to 'Don't forget to bring your dinner money to school this morning', and so forth, despite Mrs. lower gear having spent almost all her adult life in the UK. Maybe its related to German or Scandinavian usage? - those are the regions from which derived the great majority of C19 immigrants to the upper midwest.

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1204 on: 19 December, 2010, 05:00:57 pm »
'Slippy'.   :sick: That is all.

Absolutely. Damned silly non-word.

Although you could argue: Slippery: like a slipper; Slippy: prone to slippage.

I heard Ross Noble use "slippery - like a slipper" on ISIHAC in the New Meanings for Old Words game.

You'll be telling me next that "dipthong" is to wash an undergarment.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1205 on: 19 December, 2010, 05:08:19 pm »
Diphthong is a sound with two components...

Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1206 on: 19 December, 2010, 06:21:23 pm »
Generally, young female shop assistants although not exclusively ,who hand me my change and say
1p
2p
3p etc,etc.
NO! 
It is either ,
A penny or one pence or ,
Two pence or tuppence or,
Three pence or thruppence  etc, etc . 
A p is round and green and comes in a pod, can be eaten ,either raw or cooked when fresh.

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1207 on: 19 December, 2010, 06:23:29 pm »
So long as they give me the right change, I don't give a stuff what they say.
Getting there...

eck

  • Gonna ride my bike until I get home...
    • Angus Bike Chain CC
Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1208 on: 19 December, 2010, 06:29:57 pm »

Generally, young female shop assistants although not exclusively ,who hand me my change and say
1p
2p
3p etc,etc.
NO! 
It is either ,
A penny or one pence or ,
Two pence or tuppence or,
Three pence or thruppence  etc, etc . 
A p is round and green and comes in a pod, can be eaten ,either raw or cooked when fresh.

Spuds in!
One potato, two potato, three potato, four,
Five potato, six potato, seven potato, more...
You're oot...
One potato, two potato...etc etc   

Just thought I'd share that, from my long-ago childhood.  :D

It's a bit weird, but actually quite wonderful.

Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1209 on: 19 December, 2010, 06:36:04 pm »
My American colleagues' use of the simple past rather than the present perfect.

Did you get a ride yet?
Did you eat lunch already?

Instead of:
Have you found (someone to give you) a lift?
Have you eaten/had lunch yet?


Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1210 on: 19 December, 2010, 09:20:17 pm »
My American colleagues' use of the simple past rather than the present perfect.

Did you get a ride yet?
Did you eat lunch already?

Instead of:
Have you found (someone to give you) a lift?
Have you eaten/had lunch yet?


Yes, but it's a different language, American.

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1211 on: 20 December, 2010, 12:08:54 am »
Snowplough. It is snowplough!!

Snowplough!!!!!!!

Plow indeed.  :sick:
It is simpler than it looks.

HTFB

  • The Monkey and the Plywood Violin
Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1212 on: 20 December, 2010, 08:53:41 am »
Snoughplough?
Not especially helpful or mature

Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1213 on: 20 December, 2010, 08:56:33 am »
There's no plow.
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1214 on: 20 December, 2010, 09:17:17 am »
How now, snow plow.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1215 on: 20 December, 2010, 09:36:45 am »
A p is round and green and comes in a pod,
Sometimes it's yellow & liquid . . . .
"A woman on a bicycle has all the world before her where to choose; she can go where she will, no man hindering." The Type-Writer Girl, 1897


Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1217 on: 20 December, 2010, 10:55:39 am »
Quote
Mr Griffin said: "On our approach a group of youths started throwing snowballs.

"Thankfully none of them actually hit the aircraft or the rotas because that could have been catastrophic really, it could have forced the aircraft either to crash or make a forced landing," he told BBC Radio Wales.

BBC News - Air ambulance stopped from Swansea landing by snowballs

They should shut the office window if they don't want the rotas hit by snowballs. The BBC is a great institution.
It is simpler than it looks.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1218 on: 20 December, 2010, 06:00:57 pm »
I like the plough spelling because it shows the similarity to the same word in Polish and (I presume, though have to admit I've forgotten) German.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Salvatore

  • Джон Спунър
    • Pics
Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1219 on: 20 December, 2010, 06:29:51 pm »
I like the plough spelling because it shows the similarity to the same word in Polish and (I presume, though have to admit I've forgotten) German.

der Pflug
Quote
et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur

a lower gear

  • Carmarthenshire - "Not ALWAYS raining!"
Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1220 on: 20 December, 2010, 07:20:43 pm »
My American colleagues' use of the simple past rather than the present perfect.

Did you get a ride yet?
Did you eat lunch already?

Instead of:
Have you found (someone to give you) a lift?
Have you eaten/had lunch yet?


Yes, but it's a different language, American.

Don't overlook 'gotten. In mitigation Mrs. Lower Gear only uses it when under stress.

An intriguing verb is 'visit', used to describe a conversation or meeting as well as  in the UK sense: 'We enjoyed Xxxxx's visit with us', when Xxxxx spoke to them on the phone.

Rhys W

  • I'm single, bilingual
    • Cardiff Ajax
Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1221 on: 21 December, 2010, 09:47:44 am »
This is my latest: people saying "here, here!" in agreement with something.

I always have to reply with "where, where?"

 ::-)

Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1222 on: 21 December, 2010, 01:16:59 pm »
Are you sure they are not saying, "Hear, hear!" Rhys?

Don't be silly. He wouldn't be complaining if they were saying that.

Rhys W

  • I'm single, bilingual
    • Cardiff Ajax
Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1223 on: 21 December, 2010, 04:54:29 pm »
Are you sure they are not saying, "Hear, hear!" Rhys?

OK, I meant only when it's written...  :P

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Reply #1224 on: 21 December, 2010, 05:01:20 pm »
Are you sure they are not saying, "Hear, hear!" Rhys?

OK, I meant only when it's written...  :P

There, there, don't let it get to you.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.